BFG Radial T/A historical question

[Jimmy9190]

Mrs. Jimmy and I just saw the movie "The Conjuring" tonight. It was a very intense and well-done scary movie. One thing I wonder though: The movie is set in November 1971. During the last half hour or so there is a shot of a late 60's/early 70's Mustang sitting parked and the car has white letter BFG Radial TA's on it. I told my wife this was bad editing because the Radial T/A was not available in '71.

Am I right? Does anyone here know when the Radial T/A was first introduced? I know there were some radials available in the 1960's and people did not like them very much back then. In 1982 I bought a set of Radial T/A's for my first car, which was a 1972 Chevy Chevelle Malibu. So they had to have been available in the early 80's.

 

[stroked93]

Radial TA was a late 80's intro. I sold them.

 

[Chris142]

That's pretty funny that you caught that. I remember having some tires that were something like "torque twister" in raised white letters and they were a g60-15 I believe.'

 

[F350]

They were introduced in the early or mid '70s during the frenzy that was the radial ply tires. I had a '77 Dodge van with those tires, and the letters said "BF Goodrich Radial T/A 50".

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
That's pretty funny that you caught that. I remember having some tires that were something like "torque twister" in raised white letters and they were a g60-15 I believe.'


Yep - Good ole Pos-A-Traction Torque Twisters,

and HiJacker shocks, Ansen slot mags, and Cherry Bomb header mufflers.

Weren't we cool?

 

[KB2008X]

Originally Posted By: F350
They were introduced in the early or mid '70s during the frenzy that was the radial ply tires. I had a '77 Dodge van with those tires, and the letters said "BF Goodrich Radial T/A 50".


Yes, they were definitely available by the mid-'70s. BFG Radial T/As were the "it" tire for quite awhile. A big part of BFGoodrich's marketing plan was the use of their tires on John Greenwood's Corvette in the early 1970s. I'm just about positive those tires were branded BFG Radial T/A - whether they actually were or not is another story. Anyone remember Greenwoods red, white and blue Vettes that he raced in SCCA and the Daytona, Sebring and LeMans endurance races ? Those were the days.

After more thought I think 1971 was just a year or two too soon to have seen Radial T/As on the street.

 

[javacontour]

http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/bfgoodrich%C2%AE-radial-ta%C2%AE-tire-upgrading-performance-40-years

This 2010 press release touts 40 years of history.

 

[andyd]

my BIL put a set on my sister's 510 wagon about 1978

 

[ctrcbob]

This is NOT about the T/A but about BFG.

BFGoodrich was the first AMERICAN tire manufacturer to make Radial tires.
I put a set on my 1970 Cuda 340 in 1971, when they were first introduced. Great tire. I could feel the difference as soon as I drove out of the tire store.

My first Radial came on my special order 1960 Triumph TR3A, made by Michelin, who invented the Radial back in 1948.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: KB2008X
Originally Posted By: F350
They were introduced in the early or mid '70s during the frenzy that was the radial ply tires. I had a '77 Dodge van with those tires, and the letters said "BF Goodrich Radial T/A 50".


Yes, they were definitely available by the mid-'70s. BFG Radial T/As were the "it" tire for quite awhile. A big part of BFGoodrich's marketing plan was the use of their tires on John Greenwood's Corvette in the early 1970s. I'm just about positive those tires were branded BFG Radial T/A - whether they actually were or not is another story. Anyone remember Greenwoods red, white and blue Vettes that he raced in SCCA and the Daytona, Sebring and LeMans endurance races ? Those were the days.


Yes, I remember the Greenwood big block, fire breathing, C3s well!

They were my favorite race car for a while (still are).

I also suspect that those tires were race carcasses with shallow Radial T/A tread patterns cut into them/lettering on them, as I seriously doubt the street version could handle >200 mph down the Musanne straight!!

 

[friendly_jacek]

Wait, when they shoot movies, they are supposed to use old tires too? Sounds unsafe.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: KB2008X
Originally Posted By: F350
They were introduced in the early or mid '70s during the frenzy that was the radial ply tires. I had a '77 Dodge van with those tires, and the letters said "BF Goodrich Radial T/A 50".


Yes, they were definitely available by the mid-'70s. BFG Radial T/As were the "it" tire for quite awhile. A big part of BFGoodrich's marketing plan was the use of their tires on John Greenwood's Corvette in the early 1970s. I'm just about positive those tires were branded BFG Radial T/A - whether they actually were or not is another story. Anyone remember Greenwoods red, white and blue Vettes that he raced in SCCA and the Daytona, Sebring and LeMans endurance races ? Those were the days.


Yes, I remember the Greenwood big block, fire breathing, C3s well!

They were my favorite race car for a while (still are).

I also suspect that those tires were race carcasses with shallow Radial T/A tread patterns cut into them/lettering on them, as I seriously doubt the street version could handle >200 mph down the Musanne straight!!

Just a couple of thoughts:

The BFG Radial T/A's were a bit of a misnomer. They weren't truly radial tires - they had a little bias in the casing plies. Exactly where the dividing line is between radial and bias is (and was) unclear.

I don't think the Greenwood Corvettes were capable of 200 mph - more like 160. Don't forget, engine technology has improved greatly in the decades since and they can extract a whole bunch more horsepower now than then.

But I think the point is that with the slight bias in the casing and some special changes to the tires, the tires were capable of handling the speeds. BFG did not make racing tires, per se. But it is possible to modify a street tire to get 90% race tire performance out of it.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: KB2008X
Originally Posted By: F350
They were introduced in the early or mid '70s during the frenzy that was the radial ply tires. I had a '77 Dodge van with those tires, and the letters said "BF Goodrich Radial T/A 50".


Yes, they were definitely available by the mid-'70s. BFG Radial T/As were the "it" tire for quite awhile. A big part of BFGoodrich's marketing plan was the use of their tires on John Greenwood's Corvette in the early 1970s. I'm just about positive those tires were branded BFG Radial T/A - whether they actually were or not is another story. Anyone remember Greenwoods red, white and blue Vettes that he raced in SCCA and the Daytona, Sebring and LeMans endurance races ? Those were the days.


Yes, I remember the Greenwood big block, fire breathing, C3s well!

They were my favorite race car for a while (still are).

I also suspect that those tires were race carcasses with shallow Radial T/A tread patterns cut into them/lettering on them, as I seriously doubt the street version could handle >200 mph down the Mulsanne straight!!

Just a couple of thoughts:

The BFG Radial T/A's were a bit of a misnomer. They weren't truly radial tires - they had a little bias in the casing plies. Exactly where the dividing line is between radial and bias is (and was) unclear.

I don't think the Greenwood Corvettes were capable of 200 mph - more like 160. Don't forget, engine technology has improved greatly in the decades since and they can extract a whole bunch more horsepower now than then.

But I think the point is that with the slight bias in the casing and some special changes to the tires, the tires were capable of handling the speeds. BFG did not make racing tires, per se. But it is possible to modify a street tire to get 90% race tire performance out of it.


You might be correct about the tires (you've forgotten more about the round black donuts than I will EVER know!), but I believe they were getting upwards of 750 rwhp out of those 7/7.5 liter monsters, so yes 200 might be pushing it, but it HAD TO BE more than 160 (probably in the 180 area) down the Mulsanne.